Continuous process pyrolysis system

An apparatus for drying and pyrolysing a feedstock containing carbonaceous material to produce char, the apparatus including:

• a reaction chamber which is substantially sealed except for one or more inlet ports at a distal end of the reaction chamber connectable to a supply of an oxygen-containing gas and one or more outlet ports at a proximal end of the reaction chamber for release of gaseous combustion products;
• a feedstock feeder to feed the feedstock into the proximal end of the reaction chamber;
• a feedstock advancing mechanism in a lower portion of the reaction chamber to advance the feedstock laterally along the lower portion as it pyrolyses in its progression from the proximal end to the distal end;
• headspace in the reaction chamber above a pyrolysing feedstock in the lower portion;
• a char discharge port to discharge the feedstock after pyrolysing from the distal end of the reaction chamber;
• an oxygen flowrate controller for adjusting a flow rate of the oxygen-containing gas through the inlet port;
• temperature probes to provide temperature measurements at different heights in the reaction chamber;
• a control system operably connected at least with the oxygen flowrate controller and the temperature probes to control at least a flow rate of oxygen containing gas entering the reaction chamber via the inlet port in response to the temperature measurements so that the temperature measurements are appropriate for the production of a char from the feedstock and so that a zone of volatile gas combustion is established in the headspace, involving consumption of incoming free oxygen in the headspace without contacting the feedstock;
• and
• an ignition mechanism for providing an initial source of heat into the reaction chamber to achieve a self-sustaining pyrolysing steady state maintained by combustion of volatile gases from the pyrolysing feedstock.